Asymmetric MIM structure formation by PLD technique with metallic nitrides and its SPP excitation and waveguiding characteristics

Experimental study and simulation analyses have been implemented in creation of an asymmetric metalinsulator-metal (MIM) on surface of glass. All of the metallic layers are composed of metallic nitrides or ceramics. Among recently reported alternative plasmonic materials, titanium nitride (TiN) and zirconium nitride (ZrN) are candidates for the metallic layers because they have plasmonic characteristic in visible region and chemically-stable. On the other hand, aluminum nitride (AlN) is used for the insulating layer because of its transparency, high refractive index, and high thermal conductivity. In this study, thin-film deposition of the ceramics is done by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) with high power UV Nd:YAG laser at 355nm. The PLD targets are hot-pressed pellets of microcrystalline powder. The asymmetric MIM structure is going to be applied to an end of optical fiber probe as an exciter of surface plasmon polariton.